Tesco CEO Terry Leahy has ruled out making a significant acquisition in the US and is instead focusing the company’s efforts on China, he told the Observer newspaper.
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Speaking as leader of the UK’s biggest retailer at present, Leahy said to the Observer: “People have talked about businesses in the US that could be bought, but I don’t think they are right for us. We have had researchers in America, but I can tell you that we have no current plans to make an acquisition there.
“We will have to scale up in China, it’s such a big place that you either have to ease out or commit quite a bit.”
Leahy also told the newspaper that integration into China could take many years to achieve.
In July 2004, just-food reported Tesco’s first steps onto the country’s supermarket floor, with its 50% acquisition of the Chinese Hymall chain. It now has 50 Chinese hypermarkets together with Hymall.
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